For years, the "Silver Tsunami" was a forecast. In 2026, it's showing up at the closing table.
McKinsey estimates that roughly $5 trillion in baby boomer-owned businesses could come to market over the next decade. The same research highlights a troubling reality: only a small percentage of small businesses successfully transition through a sale. Many simply close.
The challenge is particularly significant for what McKinsey terms the "missing middle," businesses valued below $2 million. These businesses often struggle to attract institutional buyers and need qualified individual purchasers with access to capital. Many are concentrated in industries such as food service, retail and construction.
Franchising is not immune.
Many of our industry's most seasoned operators signed their first agreements in the 1990s and early 2000s. They are now staring down third renewals, required remodels and a simple question: what's next?
We see the shift in our own numbers at We Sell Restaurants. In our first-half 2026 State of the Restaurant Resale Market report, franchise resales grew from 28.1% of our closings in the first quarter to 37.9% in the second, and reached 45.2% in June, more than double their share of all 2025 closings. Franchises held at 40% of all transactions in the third quarter, signaling an appetite for acquisition.
Not every resale is driven by retirement, but the growing volume makes succession planning increasingly important for our industry.
This wave is an enormous opportunity, but only for those who prepare. Here is what each side of the table needs to know.
For Sellers: Your Exit Starts Years Before Your Listing
Most owners spend decades building a business and only a few months planning to leave it. A Wilmington Trust survey found 58% of owners have no transition or succession plan, even though the business often represents most of their net worth. What should a business owner do?
First, get a valuation now, not when you're ready to sell. A professional valuation tells you what your business is worth today and what is holding that number back.
Second, clean up your books. Buyers who use SBA financing are underwritten on your tax returns. Unrecorded cash, personal expenses run through the business and undocumented add-backs all shrink the price a lender will support.
Third, price to the market, not to your memories. Nationally, BizBuySell reported restaurants selling at an average of 2.41 times cash flow in the second quarter, with sellers getting about 90% of their asking price. Overpriced listings sit, go stale and eventually sell for less.
Lastly, sell before you're burned out. The most costly mistake we see is waiting too long. When an owner is tired, sales slip, the staff senses it and two years of declining numbers erase value that took twenty years to build. The best time to sell is when you don't have to.
In addition to these reminders, it’s also important to carefully study your franchise agreement. Know the amount of your transfer fee and any right of first refusal requirements. Increasingly, remodel obligations can be triggered by a sale, so know if additional capital is required upon transfer. Make sure you understand the franchisor's buyer-approval process and training timeline.
For Buyers: Resales Are the Fastest Road to Ownership
Today's economics strongly favor buying an existing business. With the prime rate at 6.75%, SBA 7(a) acquisition loans running roughly 9% to 11.5%, and restaurant construction costs up about 30% since 2020, building new is slower and more expensive than ever.
A franchise resale offers what a new build can't: revenue on day one, trained employees, an established customer base, and an operating history a lender can underwrite. It's no surprise that buyer interest in turnkey, equipped locations grew 400% in the first half of the year.
But a resale is not a shortcut around due diligence. Smart buyers:
Verify the numbers by comparing seller financials against royalty and sales reports the franchisor can confirm.
Understand the term remaining on the franchise agreement and the lease, and what renewal will require.
Budget for required upgrades. A transfer often triggers a remodel or equipment refresh.
Talk to the franchisor early.
Plan the handoff. In many boomer-owned locations, the owner is the face of the business. Negotiate a meaningful transition period so relationships with staff, vendors and regulars transfer with the keys.
For Franchisors: Continuity Is the New Growth
Too many franchisors still treat resales as an afterthought, or worse, a sign of failure. They are neither. A well-managed resale replaces a retiring operator with a fresh, often better-capitalized one, protects unit count and keeps royalties flowing. The alternative, a location that goes dark, damages the brand in that market for years.
The brands that will come through this wave strongest are acting now:
Put a resale policy in writing and share it with every franchisee, so exiting is a normal conversation rather than a confession.
Build a fast, predictable transfer process with a standard document packet, clear buyer qualifications and a target approval timeline.
Map your system's succession risk. Identify operators by tenure, age and renewal date, and raise exit planning during annual reviews, years before it becomes urgent.
Route candidates to resales. Train your development team to show qualified prospects available resales alongside new territories, and feature them on your franchise development site.
Partner with experienced intermediaries. Most franchise units sit squarely in the missing middle, where a professional broker's marketing reach, valuation discipline and buyer screening can be the difference between a sale and a closure.
The Wave Doesn't Wait
Sellers who plan early will capture the value they spent a career building. Buyers who do their homework will step into proven businesses at a time when building new is harder than ever. And franchisors who build a real bridge between generations of owners will keep their systems strong long after this wave has passed.
The businesses are coming to market either way. The only question is who is ready for them.
Robin Gagnon is Co-Founder amd CEO of We Sell Restaurants, a business brokerage franchise focused exclusively on the sale of restaurants, with more than 20 years of experience and thousands of transactions nationwide. Author of Appetite for Acquisition, she is a Certified Business Intermediary, Certified Restaurant Broker and Certified Franchise Executive.